Israel's broad air assault on Syria has nothing to do with retaliation, no more than the massive assault on Gaza had anything to do with Hamas rocket assaults on Israeli villages, assaults confirmed only by Israeli sources.

There is a real purpose to the timing of this Israeli attack and that is the promise of Russia to deliver a fully upgraded S300 system to Iran, one that totally nullifies Israel's air advantage and even Israel's ability to hit Iran with nuclear armed ICBMs.

The recent attack on Syria is, in actuality, an attempt on Israel's part to discredit President Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov. What few if any in the west understand is how thoroughly Putin has humiliated Netanyahu, a man whose mental stability has long been in question.

Netanyahu sees his bombing attacks on Syria and his open support for ISIS and her sister organizations as daring Russia to move against the US-Israel alliance.